Today, YouTube has unveiled the latest updates coming to its TV-optimised app, emphasising a focus on enhancing interactivity and highlighting chapters, comments and video descriptions without detracting from the viewing experience. The company is continuously refining its application design across various platforms and screen sizes.
The new layout slightly reduces the size of the video to accommodate the description, comments and other surrounding elements. While not the default look for YouTube, as many users still prefer full-screen viewing, accessing the more interactive interface from the standard video player screen is straightforward.
The design aims to keep the video as the focal point while integrating unique YouTube features seamlessly, enhancing the viewing experience, according to YouTube’s Joe Hines and Aishwarya Agarwal in a blog post.
The design process began with the concept of minimising the video player’s size and streamlining interactions. YouTube’s design team developed various prototypes with different levels of complexity and gathered user feedback to determine the most effective approach, resulting in the new TV experience.
Additionally, by relocating interactive features to the right side, YouTube is intensifying efforts to introduce shopping to the TV screen. A ‘products in this video’ section will appear when creators feature items in their content. However, completing transactions directly from the TV is not yet supported; instead, the app will display a QR code for users to scan and finalise purchases on their phones.
Furthermore, YouTube plans to extend this redesign to YouTube TV, enabling subscribers to track scores without obstructing ongoing games. The TV app updates will be gradually rolled out to users over the coming weeks rather than being simultaneously available to everyone.
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